Santa Conversation

My three older kids came to me the other morning. And this is what they said:

5-yr old son: (giggling) I know that Santa's not re-eal.

Me: How do you know that? (wanting to see where the little boy was heading with his declaration)

Son: Cause Dad told me.

Dad: (shakes head in complete denial)

7-yr old daughter: Well, I know that he was real but then he died. And now other people pretend to be Santa so we can get toys and you are the elves.

almost 9-yr old daughter: (talking over her sister) Mo-om. You told us! Not Dad!

Son: (still giggling) Mom! YOU'RE Santa! (giggles more and more and more)

The kids then walked off talking about what Mom and Dad could possibly have gotten them for Christmas.

A mere two hours later the following conversation occurred...

7 yr daughter: (said in complete horror!) Mom, how is Santa going to bring us presents since we don't have a chimney?

Son: (totally concerned) Oh no! We're not going to get presents!

7-yr daughter: I know! We'll leave the back door unlocked for him.

Then they both sigh in relief.

And I am left wondering...Didn't you both just decide that I am Santa? Why would I need a chimney or an unlocked door? I live here! Silly Kids!!

Nursery

Did you know that Nursery has a brand-new manual???

It just came out this summer. I received one of the new manuals on Sunday after I was called to work in the nursery. I put it on my piano when I got home from church where it stayed until tonight. I've been reading through the introduction and have to tell you...I.AM.BLOWN.AWAY!! It is completely geared toward little ones!

I know, I know. The old one was geared toward little ones too, but not like this. The new manual spells out everything a nursery worker needs to know about little ones. For example: Remember the nursery worker who insisted that the little ones all sit in their chairs and listen intently to her lesson. Well, the new manual expressly points out that some children will not want to sit and to not force them. I know that sounds pretty common sense, but lets face it...not every person had common sense when it comes to little ones. I'm even guilty of it! There are times with my own baby boy that I forget that he is just a little one and still learning.

They even include a list of potential problems and possible solutions. I love it!!! It is completely geared toward making the child comfortable in nursery. And the Lessons! The Lessons!!! They are so perfect! I am so excited to be in Nursery! And after reading the manual, I'm actually a little disappointed that I'll only be in there for an hour each week. Crazy!! Haha! :)

Kidnapped

Prominent on the news is the story of a girl who was kidnapped last week. All over Wal-Mart are pictures of children who have been kidnapped. Never, in all my history lessons, do I remember a time when children were stolen from their families, except for the Pied Piper. Do You??

They say that history repeats itself. Many theorists think that the United States, like great empires of old, is on its way down. That we, as the Romans, the Greeks, and countless others, are getting close to a great fall. And I wonder, watching the evils on the news, whether the theorists are right because many of the atrocities that proceeded the demise of other societies are now occurring in our own society.

But as I continue watching the news, I see that the problems are not just with us. The evil has seeped into every nation, every country, every society. Little by little it has come. But now it is coming in stronger and stronger waves. And I wonder, how long will the good hold out? How long will hope remain?

And it reminds me of a song from "Man of La Mancha".

To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe,

To bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong, to love pure and chaste from afar,

To try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star!

This is my quest, to follow that star,

No matter how hopeless, no matter how far;

To fight for the right without question or pause,

To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly case!

And I know, if I'll only be true to this glorious quest,

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this;

That one man scorned and covered with scars,

Still strove with his last ounce of courage,

To reach the unreachable stars.

I know that there's a lot of bad in the world. But I also know that if we keep fighting for the good that in the end, all will be right.

Three Reports...

My reports from the last week...

1. Pigeon Battle Report: The pigeons sneakily returned to our front porch. The silly things thought they could hide out on the other post and I wouldn't notice them. They even hid on the side of the post that you can't see from the driveway and is partially hidden by a tall tree. Sorry little pigeons. You are smart, but I am a little smarter. Maybe... The pigeons didn't return until nighttime. I called for my son to help me get rid of them. His job is to turn on the water while I aim the firehose nozzle at the pigeons. It was dark, but I had the porch light on so I could see to aim. I should mention, at this point, that I don't think pigeons can see very well in the dark. As soon as the water hit the pigeons, those birds scrambled to get of the post. It being dark and them not being able to see very well, they bomb-dived off the post and directly toward my HEAD!!! Aaaah!! I dove to the ground, backwards, to avoid the assault. The pigeons missed me and flew off to a neighbors and my son burst into laughter. Thanks for the concern buddy! ;)

2. Church Report: Hubby and I are in our the ward choir. Sunday we had our Christmas program. It was so much fun! My parents and two sisters came to town to visit and they sat with our kids during the program. Oh! And I played the piano for Sacrament--as a sub. I really love music. Singing, playing the piano, or any other instrument. I'm so grateful that my hubby and kids share that trait. :) Also, on Sunday we were sustained in Church callings. Hubby will be a Ward Missionary. I will be the Ward Bulletin person and a Nursery Worker for one hour. I have to admit, nursery was not a top-choice for me. I've worked in primary for so many years and nursery is often a sure-fire way of being exiled in a ward. Seriously! It all depends on the primary presidency and Bishopric. Fortuantely for me, ours are Great!! And their are four ladies who work the nursery in teams of two. Each team covers one hour and they switch the hours each week. So one week my partner and I will cover first hour of nursery, then go to Relief Society while the other team covers the second hour of nursery. The following week, we'll switch and I'll get to attend Sunday School. Hooray!!!

I'm really glad that I'll be able to attend Sunday School and Relief Society. Here's a funny story...Back when I was Primary President and had been in primary, in one calling or another, for many years, I was preparing a sharing time lesson. I was trying to teach a very basic gospel principle. As I was getting my stuff together, I completely could NOT remember what my scriptural basis was or if there was one for that matter. I asked Hubby if what I was teaching was actual gospel or just something I had made up. He laughed and told me which scripture confirmed the principle and assured me that I wasn't just making stuff up. Ey-yi-yi!

Anyways, I'm glad that I'll be in nursery. I've subbed in there once and met several of the little ones. They are darling kiddos. I've already started thinking about different activities that I can do with the little ones. After all, hanging out with a bunch of toddlers every Sunday is sure to be a Blast!! :)

3. House Report: I really like this house! It's not my favorite style. My favorite style is a Ranch House. But it is four bedroom, two bath, and has a nice big kitchen and a space for a dining room and family room. Hooray! We finally got all of the couches we ordered. They are nice big fluffy couches. So comfortable! And anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about being comfortable. Haha! Now I just have to figure out what color to paint my living/family room and kitchen and dining areas. I want to paint them a really rich and bold color, but it can't be too dark. I want something light and airy too. Ummm. I think those are contradictory statements. Oh well. I'll just keep looking. A wonderful gal in my ward lent me her True Value Color Collection. It has every color that True Value makes. The collection makes it much easier to pick a color, because I can see right off the bat if it will clash with the pink tile in my house. That's right...I said PINK Tile! Ugh!!! But I'm too cheap and too lazy to pull it out. I'm just working on loving it. Haha!! It actually is growing on me. Anyhoo, if you have any suggestions on colors to paint either room, please let me know.

And that is the end of my reports.

Volume Control

My baby loves to "drive" my van. He finds great pleasure in steering and playing with the various dials, pedals, and controls. We started our move to a new city on Halloween. While I was busy loading the van, I let my sweet BabyCakes drive. Driving kept him happy and content and out of my way.

(This picture is from when we were stuck on the Beeline for three hours. But that is another story...)

I didn't notice until much, much later that the volume control knob was missing. Sad part is that while I was loading the van I found the knob...I just didn't know what it was. I thought Hubby would know. So, not wanting to lose it, I stuck it somewhere safe and out of the way. Well, after a night of trick or treating followed by a hectic day of moving the rest of the way to our new home, I have no idea where that little knob is!

I thought it would turn up after we unloaded and unpacked everything. No such luck. I'm assuming it got thrown away with Halloween candy wrappers. We've just dealt with it. Until this week. I was out on errands with all the kids and saw a GM parts store. I pulled in and we all went inside to see if they had a knob. I was informed that they had sold the last knob the day before, but were expecting more knobs tomorrow. The parts man printed off the part number for me, which also included the price. $15.98 for a little knob! $17.32 with tax!!

Sheesh! I thought it would only be a few dollars. Expensive little knob! When Hubby returned home that night, he suggested I search online for a cheaper part. I tried. The GMC site did not pull up my part number. I was told that it didn't exist. Humph! I found another GM part site. They had it listed for $6.04. YES! I knew it should only cost a few dollars. That dumb GM parts store, trying to stick it to me! Making me pay almost three times the amount it's worth! Well, I showed them! I found the part for only six dollars and four cents. Ha!

Then I clicked buy it. Then the shipping and handling was added. Then the price went from $6.04 to $18.99, with a note that said "7-10 days, M-F, before orders ship. Special order parts (which mine was according to their site) may exceed estimated shipping time." WHAT?!?! So I end up paying MORE?!?!?! AND you're not going to even ship it until basically two weeks from today?!?!

Next morning, I loaded my kids in the van and we drove back to the GM parts store. And I got my part for $17.32 and they handed it to me the second I paid. Sorry I spoke badly of you GM parts store. You are really very nice and not trying to cheat me at all. Thank you for my little knob. It makes changing the volume much easier.

Garage Bee-U-tified!

My children have three weeks off from school for the winter holidays. I am super excited! We have a long list of things to do. One of the top things my kids wanted to do...Paint a room in our new house. Say what?!?!

I painted the hall bathroom and didn't let the kids help at all. (i will post pictures of the bathroom later) Mainly because they were at school and it's a bathroom so we don't all fit. Ever since then, they have been begging to paint a room too. I decided the garage would be the best place for my kids to practice their painting skills. :)

Monday morning they woke up ready to work. They put on their "painting clothes" and thought we would immediately start. They were shocked when I told them that First we had to clear out the garage. They were good sports. Everyone pitched in to help. Even the Baby carried tools out of the garage. It was raining outside, so we put most of the stuff in our fourth bedroom. Chemicals and gasoline stayed in the garage. So did a beautiful new bookcase I just bought. It was too heavy for me and the kids to move. We just wrapped a blanket around it to avoid paint splatters.

An hour and a half later the kids were ready to start painting. They were shocked again when I informed them that we First had to prep the garage. What!!! They didn't know what to think at that point. I explained that the walls have to be wiped down, cobwebs cleared away, and dirt washed off, otherwise the paint won't stick properly. The explanation worked. They helped wash the walls while I removed nails and screws left by the previous occupants. We were done in under thirty minutes.

Again, they were super excited to start painting. Nope, I replied. First the holes where the nails and screws were have to be patched. That was too much for them. They decided they needed a break. So they went in to watch a movie while I patched the holes in the walls. That was really fine with me, since I'm the only one tall enough to reach the holes and I'm the only one I trust with a spackle knife and spackle. ;)

I got all the holes patched in twenty minutes. Then I joined them to watch the movie. Hey! I needed a break too!

By the time the movie ended the baby was ready for a nap. I put him down and told the kids they could paint. Such joy! Such happiness! Such excitement! It's a wonderful feeling knowing your kids are happy to do work. It took two days to paint the garage. The first day we painted the ceiling. We could have done the walls too, but the spackle needed to dry overnight. On the second day we finished up the ceiling and the walls. My children are such good workers!

Painting the ceiling

The kids also took turns distracting the baby. This was a great help, because, frankly, I am the best and quickest painter. ;)

Ummm. Who's distracting Who?

The Painted Garage

The Painted Garage...Different Angle

Yes, I know it looks like a powdery blue. I happen to Like Blue! It is one of the best colors ever. And if you disagree, you should never go outside again. Because all you'll see is this color blue. Haha! Seriously, don't worry about the color. I'm not done with the garage yet. I'll post pictures as I finish more. :)

Play Me A Song Dear Piano Man!

I received an early Christmas Present last week. My Hubby arranged for my piano to get a tuning. Hooray! A previous Piano Man had told me years ago that my floorboards (?) would need to be replaced because they were so old and falling apart. The floorboards affected my pedals, rendering one of them useless. This Piano Man said he didn't know what the other guy was talking about. The pedals weren't working because the pegs had come loose. He popped them back in place in Five Seconds!!! Oh yeah!

He took great care with this old piano. It belonged to Hubby's Grandma previously. She gave it to Hubby before she died, but told him he couldn't actually take it until she had officially kicked it. Until then, he had to sing to her whenever she asked. Haha! It makes me think of the old saying, "Sing for your supper." Hubby sang for a piano. And I'm SO grateful to have it in my home. ;)

The Piano Man fixing and tuning our piano.

My boys were so excited to see the Piano Man take the piano apart. They watched almost every second of it. It really is a wonderful thing to see a piano's insides. Such a beautiful instrument!!

Wolf Eyes

Eleven years after the wedding...

Four pregnancies, gaining fifty to sixty pounds each time.

Enough stretchmarks caused by the pregnancies to wrap around the moon twice.

Still have an extra twenty to thirty pounds to lose.

Wrinkles are forming and hair is turning from blonde to who-knows-what.Bum is sagging.

Upper arms flap when I wave "Hello!"







And my husband still looks at me like this:

That man is so good for my self-esteem!! Haha! ;)

Four children to wear me down each day and cause major bags under my eyes.

Exciting Afternoon

We had an exciting afternoon! At 12:20 pm there was a knock at my door. I have no family in town that would drop by. I wasn't expecting anyone. I figured it must be a neighbor or salesman. The boys and I raced to the door to greet our visitor. It was a flower delivery truck! A woman tried to hand me a floral centerpiece. I asked who the flowers were for? Did she have the right address?

SHE DID!! Someone sent me flowers. For a brief instant I thought maybe my Hubby had sent me flowers. It's not like him. The delivery woman quickly shot down that idea when she informed me that they were for Mr. & Mrs. Silly Sarah. I asked who they were from. She didn't know. She said the card would say. I HAVE A CARD TOO?!?!?! I was so excited!! I hurriedly signed for the flowers and brought them inside for a closer look.

Aren't they beautiful!!!

And here's what the card said:

Can you believe it? I CAN'T!! "W" has sent flowers before I've even had him in my home or cooked for him!! BEFORE! Aaaah!

A little background info: My Hubby invited two coworkers for dinner tonight. He recently purchased a new grill and has been itching to try it out. Actually, he got it on Black Friday at Walmart...smoking deal. He wanted to break it in, so invited W & Z over for hamburgers and all the fixins and sides he could think of. The Hubby bought all the groceries for the meal this morning and he was going to do all the cooking tonight. My only job was to make sure the kitchen stayed clean (he'd done the dishes last night) and to please pick up the front room. Whatever, I thought. That's an easy job. So I was kind of putting it off. When I got these flowers I went nuts!

I started deep-cleaning the kitchen. I plowed through the front room, put everything away, plus swept and vacuumed. Then I cleaned the hall bathroom, picked up the kids' rooms, cleaned the toy room, started laundry, and swept under our two kitchen tables.

I am not a diligent housecleaner. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But receiving flowers. Wow. Who knew that flowers could be such a motivator. Certainly not me...probably because I was never sent flowers before. My Hubby assures me that he has sent flowers to me at least once since we've been married. Umm. Hate to break it to you sweetie. But one set of flowers in eleven years...not exactly cutting it. Anyways, I always have a hard time getting motivated to do housework. Turns out all I need is some fresh flowers and a nice note. How simple is that!!!

After I got the house cleaned up, I remembered that Hubby had asked me to make a dessert. Yeah. Sorry Hubby, but I wasn't planning on doing that. I was just going to make your friends eat the vanilla ice cream that was left-over from root beer floats last week. But when I got the flowers I MADE BROWNIES. My preschool son was very excited by everything going on and had to take my picture. He is much shorter than me and the angle makes my head look too small for my body. Ignore the disproportions.

He also took a picture of himself, since he was helping make brownies and clean. Haha! He was only helping because I bribed him with a cookie. He didn't care about the flowers. But I cared enough for both of us. I like this picture because you can really see how beautiful his eyes are. Gorgeous Brown!

At 2:30 pm another knock on my door. I had no idea who it could be this time. I ran to the door. It was the girls! Home early from school. I still haven't gotten used to this whole Wednesday Early Dismissal thing. It completely messes with my brain! I wasn't expecting the girls until close to 4:00 pm. I showed them the flowers. I had also put a white table cloth and some Christmas salt and peper shakers on the table. The girls, being girls, truly appreciated the beauty. I milked it and got about 20 minutes of good work out of them. The house looked great. Everything was ready. I debated prepping the vegetable toppers for the hamburgers, but didn't have the space in the refrigerator.

Not wanting the house to get messed up, I opened up the garage and let the kids play out front. We had a blast. Until my now seven-year-old daughter crashed her bike trying to do tricks. Yikes! She skinned both elbows, one knee, and her chin. Her buddy down the street walked her home. Such a nice boy!

Poor little girl. Especially considering yesterday was her birthday. :(

She didn't need any stitches. Her chin looks bad, but it's not a deep cut. It's just a major abrasion. Funny thing is she was more worried about whether her friends would laugh at her tomorrow then whether her face would heal and quit hurting. It's not a vain thing. It's a friend thing. She's tried very hard to make friends this past month. And she doesn't want to lose her friends because she got hurt. I assured her that real friends wouldn't laugh at her and would still play with her. She's not sure her schoolmates are real friends yet. Cross your fingers that they are! We know for sure that the neighbor boy is true blue. Let's hope her schoolmates are too!

Pictures of the Birthday-Girl

Here are the pictures of my Birthday-girl, per the Grandma's request. :)

Anyone who knows, or has known, my sweet daughter knows that she does not stay still for long. She is active, active, active! There is always something to be done, something to explore, something to learn. I love that about her...except when I'm trying to take her picture. I figured I would just go with it this year. Here are the results:

Closed-Mouth Smile Showing off her Soccerball

Shoulders as Earrings, but nice smile

Are you talking to Me??? You wanna rumble?



Do you want to see my tonsils?

You don't want to see my tonsils! Ggrrr!

Great Smile with Head tilt. Oh well, I can always rotate and crop it. ;)

Birthday

Today is my sweet Annes's birthday. She is officially Seven! Oh such heaven to be lucky seven. :)

We celebrated throughout the day. We started with her favorite foods for breakfast...Cream of Wheat and Egg Nog. Don't gag Lauren. My dear girl loves it. She was so excited because I had bought the Nog special for her. She felt so loved. :)

During breakfast she opened cards and presents. Money from the grandparents and a soccerball from us. She was super excited. She had asked "Santa" for a soccerball. I totally beat that old man to the punch. No fat old man is going to steal my thunder! Haha!

In the afternoon the boys and I took cupcakes to her class. Her classmates sang Happpy Birthday to her. So nice. When she got home from school I had a fruit platter with fresh pineapple, strawberries, apple slices, and grapes waiting. And some yummy (and expensive) Dannon yogurt. Her grin was so big! She was really feeling the love then.

After snacks, and a few minutes of cleaning, we headed to the park to test her new soccerball. The best part of the day was when, on arriving home and telling her that we were going to have pepperoni pizza for dinner-per her request, she sighed and said, "This is the best birthday I ever had. You did everything I love today, just to make it special." Then she gave me a big hug.

Moments like that make me very happy to be a Mom.

Happy Birthday My Dear Girl!!!

White Elephant & A Cross-Stitch Completed

When I was invited to the Homemade White Elephant party, I didn't know what to make. The party was in a few weeks and I certainly didn't have time for any of my normal projects. I started rummaging through my stuff, looking for a half-finished project that I could quickly complete. I stumbled on a finished Cross-Stitch Sampler. Perfect! I would get it framed and use that.

Cross-stitch often requires a special framer, one who knows how to stretch the material just right. Otherwise it can come out looking funky. And some framers can actually ruin your cross-stitch. Anyhoo, I found the good framer in town, the one with a cross-stitch specialty. I told her what I was going to do with my sampler and She told me I was crazy to give it up for a white elephant gift or any gift for that matter! After a brief conversation (which included many admiring remarks on her part regarding my sampler), I agreed. The reason...I had put years into that cross-stitch and the woman recognized that. There's not many people who recognize the labor behind the art. And I had, after years of not cross-stitching, forgotten that. So sad! She was a blessed wake-up call. Plus the framing cost $100. Considering the time, effort, and cost it is Definately NOT something I want to use for a white elephant gift! That's when I decided to make a quilt instead.

I picked up the completed and framed cross-stitch yesterday. IT. IS. BEAUTIFUL!!! I am SO glad that I did NOT use it as the white elephant. It is going to have a prominent place in my living room or dining room. Not sure which at this point. I'm just sure that it will have a prominent place. I mean, LOOK. AT. IT! It turned out SO GREAT!!! Hooray!!! :)

So Sarah, What did you get from the party??

I was number four to choose. All of the gifts were placed in black garbage sacks, so there were no hints about what a gift was. This being my first year, I wasn't sure about the "etiquette" required when choosing a gift. So I didn't feel or shake or man-handle any of the bags. I just grabbed one. By the way, turns out there are no etiquette rules during this game. The other ladies were not shy at all about feeling the presents, no, not shy at all! The shook them and felt them up good. Sheesh!

Anyhoo, I opened my bag and found this:

At first, when all I could see was one pastel oval, I thought it was an Easter gift. The tree is about two feet tall and eight inches wide. It's sitting on my piano in this picture. My oldest daughter, upon seeing it this morning, exclaimed in awe and wonder: "Someone made that tree?" Of course not silly girl! I explained that the tree wasn't homemade. The ornaments were.

(sidenote: I sat by the lady who made the ornaments, she was the best person to sit by. she knew who everyone was and what every gift was and she loved every present. it's always good to sit by the someone who is having the best time)

Some of the ladies were going crazy stealing gifts from each other. Not me. The gift I chose stayed by me the whole night. I'm glad because at times the stealing got a bit dangerous! ;) My kids think the tree is a great trade for my Sudoko quilt. They love the tree and already have plans for decorating it next year.

I wasn't sure what to expect last night. What sort of gifts people would bring? What types of homemade items? But now I know. Thirty-two women showed up. Three made jewelry--very pretty jewelry. Several made decorative items to display in your home. (Some of those items I had no idea what they were. All of my decorative stuff is some type of painting or sewing.) Several made wood items--painted with vinyl lettering or vinyl pictures. And a few made items from scrapbook papers. One other woman made a blanket...hers was the flannel type that you cut strips about three inches deep into the fabric, then tie the strips into knots. A very easy blanket to make with very cute results and involving no sewing. She also tied some jingle bells into hers.

There were only two other women who sewed their gifts. One sewed a reversible apron, then stuffed it full of goodies and put it in a cute basket--that she did not make. Haha! The other sewed little bags out of different red materials, then stuffed them full of apple cider and hot chocolate mixes, cinched up the bags around a cinnamon stick, and glues two little paper leaves to the package. They looked like little apples. She put her "apples" in a red coloander. Of course, me being in such a sewing mode, those were two of the homemade items I liked best.

Most of the items were a different sort of craft than I was expecting. I've been so consumed with sewing for so many years that when I was told to bring something homemade, all I could think about was sewing projects. So I spent a solid week and a half making my Sudoko quilt. My fingers and neck are still sore. Silly girl!! I could have thrown a flannel blanket together in an hour. Or made wood projects in a few hours. But I didn't think of those beforehand. It's kind of funny, because I've made so many of the projects that were brought as gifts. And they were lots easier. (But they are all packed and not staring me in the face, which seems to be the only way to jog my mind from sewing lately. Haha!!) I am SO going to be prepared for next year!!! Now that I know what to expect, I am going make the best White Elephant ever next year!!!

Oh! I almost forgot. I did have a good time at the party! I really enjoyed getting together with so many great ladies, so many FUN ladies. I'm glad I attended! :)

PS. I am not misspelling Sudoko. That's how it's spelled on my pattern.

Sudoko!

I finally finished the Sudoko Quilt. Just two hours before the Homemade White Elephant party. Aaah! Talk about cutting it close. I had a few problems putting this one together. I wanted to machine quilt it, but the back kept gathering and bunching. The stitching looked great on the front, not so great on the back. So I unpicked it all and started over. After three failed attempts, I decided to just tie it instead. Much easier and faster. Next problem, I ended up not having enough material to bind it using my favorite technique. So I had to figure out a different way. And with time slipping away, it needed to be a quick way.

Here are the pictures of the finished product. Notice that the Sudoko is perfect! No doubles in any column or row. Thank goodness that it was already printed out for me in the pattern. ;)

The Top Block

The Binding...I just flipped over the edge
and machine stitched it. Turned out Very Good!

Me and the Finished Quilt

The back material and binding.

We are also supposed to bring a treat to share. My kids have been begging
to make cookies. So we used a "Fat Lady" recipe for Spritz Cookies. YUM!!!

Wish me luck! Hopefully I'll come home with a good White Elephant
gift. At the very least, I'm sure to have a great time at the party! :)

Joseph B. Wirthlin

My computer is finally set up with internet connected. I was so excited to use it this morning. My homepage is LDS.org. When it pulled up this morning sad news awaited...

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles has died.

Wow. He's had problems for years. Remember last year at conference when his body kept shaking during his entire talk and how fellow Quorum members came and stood next to him to steady him. Elder Wirthlin has always just plugged on through. It is sad to think he's gone now.

The Pigeon Battle

Several years ago, a wonderful man in the neighboring town decided to raise pigeons. For whatever reason he was no longer able to take care of them and so let them go free! Pigeons are great at multiplying and taking over. Soon the town was filled with pigeons. They needed more space, so they came to my town. Lovely!

I love my new house. I love my new neighborhood. I do not love the pigeons that live on nearly every rooftop. I do not love the poops they leave on the sides of my house, on my roof, and on my sidewalks. Gross! I do not love the other various items they bring to my yard, which I won't describe because it's too yucky. I also do not love that they are building a nest on the pillar of my front walk. I have a tree they could use. Sheesh! Talk about bad location pickers.

Pigeons are not easily scared and will keep coming back. One neighbor suggested getting a net to block the pigeons access to my pillars. Whatever! They have a net, but when they're at work...the pigeons sneak into the pillar by going behind the net. Another neighbor suggested spikes. But then told me to be careful because pigeons are so dumb/determined that they will skewer themselves on the spikes. Yuck! Another neighbor paid a pest-control company to get rid of their pigeons. Ummm. He's got ten pigeons sitting on his roof right now.

Yesterday a neighbor with no pigeons told me her secret. She didn't use spikes or pest control or nets. She just used a water hose with a fireman's nozzle.

Anytime she heard the pigeons land on her house, she would go hose them down. Morning, noon, evening, and even at night...especially at night. She would hose them down. I had thought about using the hose, but with the other neighbors using gadgets I figured a plain old hose wouldn't work. With my neighbor's testament, I went to the hardware store, purchased the necessary equipment, and tried it out. IT WORKS!!

I've only done it one day, but already the pigeons are starting to be wary of me. I also took it out last night and sprayed them a few times. Totally took them by surprise. At ten o'clock they were gone. I knew it wouldn't be that easy, so I looked at the other eave of the front walk. There they were! Haha! They thought they could fool me by moving to another side. Nope! I sprayed them and they quickly retreated.

The battle has begun! But will only be won if I am consistent in my efforts. Wish me luck! :)

Popcorn Anyone???

I am battling pigeons, a story for another day. For my battle I needed a few supplies from our local hardware store. With my boys in tow, we ventured out. They love the hardware store because they always have Popcorn to share!!! My boys love popcorn. And a conversation regarding the love of popcorn led me to a startling discovery.

Me: Can the baby have some of your popcorn? He's already eaten all of his.

My 5-yr old son: Yeah.

Me: The baby sure likes popcorn.

Son: No, He loves popcorn. (giggling)

Son: He loves popcorn so much he's going to marry it!

Me: Umm. I don't think you can marry food.

Son: Yes you can. Dad did!

Me: I thought Dad married me...

Son: He did.... First he married "Red Devil", then he married you.

Can you believe it!!! Not only am I in a polygamous relationship, it turns out that I am the second wife. Bummer.